South Florida rocked by heavy storms; tornado watch canceled

Heavy storms rocked people out of their beds early Saturday across South Florida as rain, wind gusts, lightning and thunder spread across the region.

With the system coming ashore, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch before 6 a.m. and lifted it after 8 a.m. as the storms began to ease. The watch covered Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties.

A line of storms with gusts of 45-60 mph moved over Miami-Dade early. A 61 mph wind gust was recorded at Miami City Hall in Coconut Grove at 6:21 a.m., according to the weather service.

The area also is seeing some flooding. The weather service issued an early-morning urban flood advisory for central Miami-Dade including Key Biscayne, which has been pounded by more than three inches of rain and road flooding washing over the curbs at Bill Baggs State Park, according to the ranger on duty.

South Florida faces a 60 percent chance of rain Saturday with a high in the mid-80s. Temperatures will drop at night to the upper-60s.

Forecasters expect a nicer Sunday, mostly clear with a high of around 80.